This perpetual calendar includes:
- Remarkable testimonies of souls won to the Savior
- Explanations of gospel concepts
- Answers to frequently-asked questions
- Stories of real-life witnessing opportunities
- Encouragements and tips for sharing the glorious gospel
February 7
“You shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Some believers think the witness of the Church is only to be conducted by those gifted as evangelists. Was that what the early church did? In Acts 8, we are told that the persecution that arose under Saul of Tarsus drove the Christians across the Roman empire. And the result? “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching (euaggelizo, evangelizing) the word” (v 4). But the “they” in verse 4 does not include the men who were given the Great Commission by our Lord. Verse 1 tells us that the apostles stayed in Jerusalem. However, the real question is: how can any Christians keep their mouths shut about the world’s greatest Friend (the Lord Jesus), the world’s greatest need (salvation), the world’s greatest offer (the gospel) and the greatest event in a believer’s life, when we pass from death into eternal life?
Today’s Reading: Leviticus 27; Numbers 1-2 Memorize: Psalm 37:39February 6
“…Tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Rev 20:10). Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834) preached to more people than any other man of his time. During more than 30 years of ceaseless travel, mostly by foot, Dow preached in almost all parts of the U.S., as well as in Canada, England, Ireland and the West Indies. He wore one set of clothes till they worn out; his only luggage was a box of Bibles. Plagued with asthma, he was compelled to sleep on the floor or on bare ground. He was sometimes chased from one town to another, where he would simply begin preaching where he had left off. Often he could swap some little possession for a meal, but sometimes he was so weak he preached lying down. Eccentric in his ways, eloquent in his preaching, only the Lord knows how many heard the gospel from his lips, sometimes as many as 10,000 at a time. What kept him going? A fellow-traveler overheard a two-word sigh from his lips as he prayed one evening, “Oh, eternity!”
Today’s Reading: Leviticus 24-26 Memorize: Psalm 34:8February 5
Luke wrote more of the New Testament than any other author, including Paul. There has been no shortage of critics to call in question the historical veracity of his writings. For example, he calls Iconium a city in Phyrigia. Scholars disagreed, saying that Iconium was in Lycaonia, not Phyrigia. They declared the Book of Acts unreliable. That was until 1910, when Sir William Ramsay (1851-1939), looking for evidence to support this long-held claim against Luke, uncovered a stone monument declaring that Iconium was indeed a city in Phyrigia. When reviewing the writings of Luke, British historian and fellow of the British Academy A.N. Sherwin-White, states: “In all, Luke names thirty-two countries, fifty-four cities, and nine islands without error…For Acts the confirmation of historicity is overwhelming…Any attempt to reject its basic historicity must now appear absurd.”
—See A. N. Sherwin-White, Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament, p 189
February 4
Joseph Scriven, the author of “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” was born in Dublin in 1820 and moved to Canada when he was 25. Although born in wealth and refinement, he chose a humble path of service for Christ after the drowning death of his fiancée the eve before their wedding. One day he was seen walking down a street in Port Hope where he lived, dressed in work clothes and carrying a saw. One observer said to another: “Do you know that man? I need a sober, hard-working man to cut some wood for me.” “You can’t get that man; that’s Mr. Scriven.” “Why not?” “Because you’re able to pay for it. He only saws wood for poor widows and sick people.” The well-known hymn was written by Scriven to comfort his mother back in Ireland. The hymn concludes by reminding us that now is the time to pray: Soon in glory bright, unclouded, there will be no need for prayer; Rapture, praise, and endless worship will be our sweet portion there.
Today’s Reading: Leviticus 17-20 Memorize: Psalm 32:1-2February 3
When asked to write a comment in someone’s album, C.H. Spurgeon would often write: “E’er since by faith I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply, Redeeming love has been my theme, And shall be till I die.” Early in his ministry at the Tabernacle he said: “I received, some years ago, orders from my Master to stand at the foot of the Cross until He came. He has not come yet; but I mean to stand there till He does. If I should disobey His orders, and leave those simple truths which have been the means of the conversion of souls, I do not know how I could expect His blessing. Here, then, I stand at the foot of the Cross, and tell out the old, old story, stale though it may sound to itching ears, and worn threadbare as critics may deem it. It is of Christ I love to speak—of Christ, who loved, and lived, and died; the substitute for sinners; ‘the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God’(1 Pet 3:18).” —The Prince of Preachers, by James Douglas, pp 121, 124-125
Today’s Reading: Leviticus 14-16 Memorize: Psalm 27:1February 2
“So shall I have an answer for him who reproaches me, for I trust in Your word” (Ps 119:42). In the spring of 1947, a Bedouin was searching for a lost goat near the shore of the Dead Sea at Qumran. He threw a stone into a cave which contained not his goat but jars filled with manuscripts. Hearing a jar break, he thought he had found treasure, little realizing what it was. What made the Dead Sea Scrolls such a remarkable find in confirming the reliability of the Old Testament was the fact that prior to their discovery the earliest text in Hebrew dated only to the 10th century ad. Biblical scholar Gleason Archer noted that in spite of 1,000 years separating the Scrolls and the Masoretic Text, “The texts from Qumran proved to be word-for-word identical to our standard Hebrew Bible in more than 95 percent of the text. The five percent of variation consisted primarily of obvious slips of the pen and spelling alterations.” —Gleason Archer, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, p 25
Today’s Reading: Leviticus 11-13 Memorize: Psalm 24:1February 1
It is true that salvation is based on certain historical facts: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once” (1 Cor 15:3-6). “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10:9). But we should remember that salvation comes not simply in accepting certain facts; it is found in receiving a Person: “We preach Christ crucified…”
(1 Cor 1:23). “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day” (2 Tim 1:12). “…Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead…Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:10-12).—J.B.N.